Patrick Mahomes was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs with the 10th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, and it has proven to be the best pick of that draft. Since joining the Chiefs, Mahomes has led the team to two Super Bowl wins and he has won MVP twice. Mahomes is now one of, if not the, best quarterbacks in the NFL, and he is literally changing the game of football.

During the 2022 NFL season, deep passes weren't happening very often. There were 3,416 passes 15 or more yards downfield last year, which was the fewest since 2006. Why is this happening? Dan Orlovsky says that it's because of Patrick Mahomes.

“It's directly attached to Patrick Mahomes,” Orlovsky said according to an article from ESPN. “Teams have sat there and said, ‘We are going to take these home-run hitting quarterbacks and make them hit singles.'”

Article Continues Below
More Kansas City Chiefs News
Kansas City Chiefs safety Justin Reid (20) in a press conference ahead of Super Bowl LIX at New Orleans Marriott.
Ex-Chiefs safety Justin Reid sends ‘respect’ to Eagles for Super Bowl blowoutBenedetto Vitale ·
Chiefs, Jawaan Taylor, Jaylon Moore, Josh Simmons
2 Chiefs veterans whose roles will be pushed by rookies in 2025Cameron Zunkel ·
Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Chris Conley (17) against the New England Patriots during the AFC championship game at Arrowhead Stadium.
Former 49ers, Chiefs wide receiver makes retirement decisionJaren Kawada ·
One mystery player in the middle, Patrick Mahomes and Chris Jones around him, Kansas City Chiefs logo in the background
Rising Kansas City Chiefs rookie turning heads in 2025 OTAsEnzo Flojo ·
Patrick Mahomes and his wife Brittany cheer as Texas Tech takes control of the game in Game 2 of the Women's College World Series championship series between the Texas Longhorns at Texas Tech Red Raiders at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, Thursday, June 5, 2025. Texas Tech won 4-3.
Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes gushes over Texas Tech’s NiJaree Canady amid WCWSDouglas Fritz ·
An overall view before the AFC Championship game between the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
Chiefs stadium debate takes a twist with bill passagePreston Byers ·

Mahomes has a big arm and he can beat defenses with the deep ball, but things changed for him when he stared to see opposing teams change their coverage. He had to adapt that, and the changes he made worked.

“We faced so many deep coverages where teams were taking away all our deep throws,” Mahomes said in regards to the 2021 season. “I had to learn when to just take what's underneath. That's something where I've kind of grown and matured. We'll call deep plays still all the time, but if defenses are going to play that deep, even though I want to in my heart of hearts to throw it downfield and make those big plays, I'll take the underneath stuff and find ways to move the ball down the field that way.”

The game of football is always changing, and this appears to be one of the biggest phenomenons in the sport right now. It will be interesting to see what the numbers look like for the 2023 season.